In what could only be described as awkward, Cleary sat down across from Kent at the desk and in between moments of silence and weird smiles between the pair, there were some moments where you could see some clear emotion from the coach.

Speaking on Kent's criticism of the Panthers playing roster, he set the record straight and said he spoke about how he thought things had gotten personal.

"To question our attack was fair...but as for the roster, it's not my roster," he said.

"I am part of a recruitment and retention committee made up of the head's of our club. Like any other time, our roster management at the moment is about getting the best value out of the players we have.

"Statements and headlines like 'dumb' and things around how I did or didn't use James Maloney. It's been a collection of things coming out of that publication that I felt was on a personal level."

"I felt that I was misrepresented in terms of my integrity and honesty, it was a very difficult situation," he said.

"I can understand why people have their opinions. I certainly feel that I was honest, the timing was awful.

"It was not that simple but that was part of it (wanting to coach son Nathan). I can't explain exactly why, it was totally out of the blue but I was drawn to it and it was a club I started at and when I was let go, I still felt there was a lot of unfinished business. I had a real connection with the club.

"I lived in the area, my kids grew up here and unfinished business was what I felt when I left. Nathan being there was a big part of it and I was really drawn to it. I loved my time at the Wests Tigers and am really grateful for my time at the club."

Cleary also said that he 'wasn't going to stand in James Maloney's way' and said that it was originally in their cap management for 2020 onwards that the the NSW playmaker wasn't going to be there.

It took plenty of backbone for Cleary to face the music from Kent, and the two shook hands at the end of the strange encounter.

The Panthers sit in 9th position on the NRL ladder with just five rounds remaining, and will need a massive improvement in Round 21 - and they will have to do it without Maloney after he was suspended for a trip on Jeremy Marshall-King.